Compensator for sheeters



Oct 17, 19390 J. A. HECKMAN GOMPE I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 17, m9. J. A.HECKMAN 2,176,571

COMPENSATOR FOR SHEETERS Filed Feb. 25, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PatentedOct. 17, 1939 PATENT OFFICE COMPENSATOR FOR SHEETERS John A. Heckman,Chicago, 111., assignor to Miller Wrapping and Sealing Machine Company,Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application February 25, 1938,Serial No. 192,474

6 Claims.

In cutting sheets from a rolled web, the sheets are often printed sothat it is essential that the sheets shall be severed at or near a givenline, otherwise the printed matter will not appear at the desiredlocation on the sheet. This is particularly true where the sheets, asCellophane, are used for wrapping packages.

The sheeting machine is set so as to sever the sheet as near the desiredline as practicable. Due, however, to shrinkage or expansion of thematerial of the web, the desired line will not long remain at the:desired point of severance.

It, therefore, is an object of this invention to provide means forquickly and readily compensating for these differences so that the lineof severance will always fall at the desired point. This I propose to doby setting the feeding mechanism to feed the web forward each time anamount slightly less than the desired length of the sheet to be cut andcompensating for this slight difference by manually advancing the sheeta small amount after every few sheets are cut as the operator shall seeis necessary to keep the line of severance within certain limits asindicated by suitable markings on the sheet.-

These and other objects as will hereinafter appear-are accomplished bythis invention which is fully described in the following specificationand shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is aperspective view of a sheeting machine embodying the invention;

. Fig. 2 is a partial enlarged longitudinal section through the machineshowing the driving roll;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal section through the machine on theline 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig.4 is a transverse section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view of the web prior to being cut into sheets;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the driving roll of Fig. 2 showing thedriving means;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 on a reduced scale showing anoperating lever for driving means; and

Fig. 8 is a partial view showing the opposite side of the driving lever.

The embodiment illustrated comprises a sheeting machine having a mainframe I!) supported on legs l I and having suitably journaled thereinshafts l2, l3 and Hi, which respectively carry rolls 55, H5 and ii (Fig.2) around which passes a web A which is fed from a roll, not shown, ofmaterial which is to be cut into sheets. A vertical movable knife l8cooperates with a stationary blade 9 to sever the sheet.

The means for intermittently driving the roll [2 and the means foractuating the knife 58 are shown in detail in my co-pending application,6- entitled Gluing and sheeting machine, filed February 24, 1938, SerialNo. 192,332.

Referring to Figs. 6, 7 and 8, the shafts l2 and !3 have gears 23 and 25keyed thereon and these gears mesh with a gear 22 which is rotatablymounted on a pin or screw 23 carried by the frame it. The gear 22 issecured to a ratchet wheel 24 as by means of rivets 25 so as to berotatable therewith. The ratchet wheel 24 is preferably provided with aseries of longitudinal teeth which are preferably formed by means of asuitable knurling tool.

An operating lever is pivotally mounted on the-pin 23 and carries a pawl21 which is pivotally mounted on a pin 28 on the lever 26 and is 20yieldably held in contact with the knurl periphery of the ratchet wheel24 by means of a spring 29. The outer end of the lever 26 has a core 30pivotally connected thereto by means of a pin 3 l This core passesthrough a solenoid coil 32 which 25 is carried by means of a housing 33which is secured to the side of the frame as by means of screws orrivets 3 An adjusting screw 35 is screwed through a threaded hole in theend of the lever and is locked in an adjusted position 3 by means of anut 36. This screw normally rests upon the upper portion of the housingwhen the solenoid is not energized. Leads 3'5 connect the ends of thesolenoid 32 with a suitable source of electric current B through aswitch 38 which 35 is shown in detail in Fig. 3 which will later bedescribed.

Upon closing the switch 38, the core Ell will be drawn up until theenlarged end of the core 3i) strikes the bottom of the housing 33, atwhich 40 time the lever 25 will have assumed the dottedline position ofFig. 7. Upon opening the switch 38 the solenoid will be de-energized andthe weight of the lever 26 will return to the full-line position.

The switch 38 is preferably a micro-switch having an operating member 38(Fig. 3) which opens and closes the switch upon a very small movement ofthis member. The switch is enclosed in a housing 39 and has an operatinglever 4B which is preferably connected intermediate its length on aU-shaped member 4| which is pivctally connected at its upper ends to thehousing by means of a screw 52. One end of the operating lever carriesan adjusting screw 43 which bears upon a metal plate on the under sideof a table 44, the housing 39 also being secured to the under side ofthis table. The opposite and longer end of the operating lever 40carries an operating button which is adjustably secured thereto. Thisbutton has a shank 46 passing through the table 4d, the upper portion ofthe button preferably being substantially even with the upper surface ofthe table.

Since the switch 38 is a micro-switch, a very small movement of thebutton 45 will be sufiicient to cause the operating member 38 to closethe switch thereby energizing the solenoid and causing the operatinglever 26 to move from the fullline position to the dotted-line positionof Fig. 7.

The shaft 93 carries a roll l6 which serves to intermittently drive asmall belt conveyer 4'! which extends to the front of the machine asshown in Fig. 1. Each time the roll I5 is actuated, it advances the weba predetermined amount and then remains stationary for an intervalduring which the knife 58 descends, severing the web to form a sheet.This may have the appearance of the web A of Fig. 5 wherein the dottedvertical lines 48, 39 indicate lines of severance which would occur dueto the normal action of the sheeting machine if the compensating deviceof 7 was not used.

It will be noted that a series of spots 50 are printed on the side ofthe web to indicate the permissible variations of the line of severance.In other words, the line of severance should pass through some portionof this spot. At 59 the line of severance passes through the center ofthe spot, but the line i8 is nearer the left-hand side of this spotwhile the line 49, is substantially at the left-hand side. The operatorwatching the sheets as they come through, sees that the line ofseverance is working back toward the lefthand side of the spot 56 anddepresses the button 45,, thereby advancing the sheet by a desiredamount, say the width of the spot 50, the amount being adjusted by meansof the adjusting screw 35. If he sees that one actuation is not enough,he may close the switch a second time. A little practice, however, willteach the operator how often the compensator needs to be actuated inorder to keep the sheet within the desired limits.

For safety, the machine is provided with a cover all which has a window52 through which the operator may observe the cuts as they are made.

I claim:

1. In a sheeting machine, means for intermittently advancing a web apredetermined amount at each actuation, means for severing the web, andmeans for advancing the web a relatively srrall amount to bring the webto a desired point for" cutting, the last mentioned means including aratchet, a lever arm associated with the ratchet, a spring-pressed pawlon the arm operating on the ratchet, and means under control of a humanoperator for operating the lever arm.

2- In a sheeting machine, means for intermittently advancing a web apredetermined amount at each actuation, means for severing the web, andmeans for advancing the web a relatively small amount to bring the webto a desired point for cutting, the last mentioned means including aratchet, a lever arm associated with the ratchet, a spring-pressed pawlon the arm operating on the ratchet, a solenoid for operating the leverarm, a source of electric current, and a switch in series circuit undermanual control of an operator.

3. In a sheeting machine, means for intermittently advancing a web apredetermined amount at each actuation, means for severing the web, andmeans for advancing the web a relatively small amount to bring the webto a desired point for cutting the last mentioned means including aratchet, a lever arm associated with the ratchet, a spring-pressed pawlon the arm operating on the ratchet, a solenoid for operating the leverarm, a source of electric current, and a switch in series circuit undermanual control of an operator and remote from the solenoid.

4- In a sheeting machine, means including a roll for intermittentlyadvancing a web, means for transversely severing the web during astationary interval, a ratchet wheel geared to said roll, a lever, apawl thereon operable on the ratchet wheel, and means under manualcontrol of an operator for operating the lever to cause the roll toadvance the web a predetermined small amount.

5. In a sheeting machine, means including a roll for intermittentlyadvancing a web slightly less than a predetermined sheet length at eachactuation, means for transversely severing the web during a stationaryinterval, a ratchet wheel geared to said roll, a lever, a pawl thereonoperable on the ratchet wheel, and means under manual control of anoperator for operating the lever to cause the roll to advance the web apredetermined small amount at each actuation to cause the web toapproach said predetermined sheet length.

6. In a sheeting machine, means including a roll for intermittentlyadvancing a web slightly less than a predetermined sheet length at eachactuation, means for transversely severing the web during a stationaryinterval, a ratchet wheel geared to said roll, a lever, a pawl thereonoperable on the ratchet wheel, a solenoid operably connected to thelever, a source of current, and a switch in series circuit with thesolenoid under manual control of an operator for causing the roll toadvance the web a predetermined small amount at each actuation to causethe Web to approach said predetermined sheet length.

JOHN A.

